Scientists who were sifting through four years’ worth of data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft discovered an 11.2-billion-year-old star with at least five Earth-size planets orbiting it. Kepler -444, is a star that was created when the Universe was younger than 20%. This star is 2.5 times more old than the Sun and the Milky Way’s oldest system of Earth-sized planets. Researchers used asteroseismology to listen for the natural resonances caused by the sound trapped in the star. This causes tiny changes in the brightness of the star, which allows them to determine its size, age and weight. Kepler -444, is a newly discovered star that has at least five planets of Earth size. The system is 11.2 billion years old – more than twice the age of our Solar System. Illustration by Tiago Campante/Peter Devine. Iowa State University. They were able to detect the planets through the dimming they experience when passing across the stellar disk. Astronomers are able to determine the sizes of planets and stars using these data. The Astrophysical Journal published their study. The authors wrote: “We thus show that Earth-size planets have formed throughout most of the Universe’s 13.8-billion-year history, leaving open the possibility for the existence of ancient life in the Galaxy.” Study leader, Dr. Tiago Campante, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy in England, said scientists have known that Earth-size planets have formed throughout most of the Universe’s 13.8 billion year history. Dr. Campante stated that the Earth was formed at a time when the planets of this system were older than the Earth. The discovery could help us to identify the start of the “era of planet formation”. Our Sun is only 4.5 billion years old. Steve Kawaler (Iowa State University Professor of Physics and Astronomy), co-authored Kepler . He says that it was the first generation stars which gave rise to Kepler . Professor Kawaler stated: “This system shows that planets formed around stars almost 7 billion years ago than our solar system.” For a long time, planetary systems around stars has been common in our galaxy. Kepler is 177 far from Earth but is 25% smaller that our sun. The five planets it is known to have are between Venus and Mercury. 95% to 38% is the planet’s diameter. They are closer than Earth to their stars. They take 10 days for an orbit to be completed. They are closer to the Sun than Mercury, so they can be even more hot. Without them life would cease to exist. Keppler -444 has a bright star. Professor Kawaler stated that you could actually see the star with good binoculars. Astronomers will be able to learn more about our Galaxy’s history thanks to this latest discovery. According to the authors, “From the discovery of first exoplanets rocky to that of an Earth-sized planet orbiting another star within its habitable area, we now have first glimpses at the diversity of Galactic environments favorable to the formation these small worlds.” The path to a better understanding of early galaxy planet formation is now open to us,” Professor Bill Chaplin of the Kepler Mission’s asteroseismology team said. “The discovery of first rocky exoplanets has fueled efforts to discover other planets similar to Earth outside of our Solar System. We are now seeing the diversity of Galactic environments that can support the formation of small worlds.” The path to a better understanding of the Galaxy’s early planet formation is being mapped. The Astrophysical Journal. 799 170. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/799/2/170. Accepted 22 Oct 2014, for publication 24 2014. Publication 27 January 2015. Video – Kepler -444 is an extrasolar ancient system
